•At SDP’s Jos Convention In 1993
•To Enable ABIOLA Get Presidential Ticket
One of the things that endears Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to the Yorubas is the move he made at the Jos Convention of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993, which enabled Chief M.K.O Abiola win the SDP’s presidential ticket. Many do not know the story. But the truth is that but for Atiku, there would have been no June 12, 1993 victory for Abiola. In a book entitled: ATIKU: The Story of Atiku Abubakar, the author, Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba, revealed how Atiku was persuaded by party elders to step down for MKO Abiola, which he did, by sacrificing his ambition to be President.
By August 1992, when primaries in 5 zones had been completed with Yar’Adua winning, the Babangida administration again cancelled the 6-zone primaries. It was reduced to 3 stages scheduled to begin in September 1992. By the end of the first round, Yar’Adua had emerged the front-runner, beating prominent Southwest politicians in their own territory. Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Federal Government who came second, withdrew from the next round of voting with 8 other SDP’s Presidential aspirants, citing serious irregularities in the first round. They called for the cancellation of the result of the first round. But the SDP Electoral board went ahead to conduct the next two rounds of voting after which Yar’Adua was declared winner and the SDP presidential candidate.
Babangida quickly cashed in on the disputed primaries in the two parties on November 17, 1992, by canceling the primaries, banning all the 23 presidential contestants. He dissolved the executives of the two parties, introduced a new style of presidential primary and extended the transition to August 27, 1993. A good number of politicians were left wondering whether real or imaginary election irregularities could always be used as an excuse to interfere with the transition process and extend the tenure of the regime.
Yar’Adua was unhappy that the results of the primaries were cancelled and that he was subsequently banned from contesting the Presidency. He tried in vain to lobby other banned candidates, especially Adamu Ciroma, the NRC front-runner, to challenge the cancellation and the ban in court.
Yar’Adua and his PF associates relocated to London to reflect on the cancellation of the primaries and the introduction of a new process called Option A4, which required a presidential aspirant to win at his or her ward, local council and the state and then join representatives of other states at a national convention, where delegates would choose each party’s flag bearer. Members debated whether they should continue to participate in a Transition programme that was beginning to lack credibility. The group agreed not to quit, but to remain and fight for an end to military rule in Nigeria.
With Yar’Adua banned, the group needed someone else, who members could rally round. They decided to pick Atiku, the 46-year old wealthy member of the group, who had already emerged informally as a loyal and trusted deputy to Yar’Adua. Atiku’s youthfulness, money and fierce loyalty to Yar’Adua gave him an advantage over another hot favourite, M. S. Buhari, the PF’s Chief strategist. “He was obviously the most influential among the people around Yar’Adua. He was hard-working and selfless. He was using his money for the party. Yar’Adua had confidence and trust in him. Atiku also had a vast network of friends”.
With only 3 years in politics, relatively unknown beyond the Northeast and boasting no public office experience, Atiku faced an uphill task as an aspirant for the Presidency in Nigeria. His closeness to Yar’Adua also meant that he would likely inherit the General’s goodwill as well as his ill-will. Those who did not want Yar’Adua to become President could also stop him. But Atiku was determined to try his luck. He hoped to run on the same ideas and vision as his political mentor, Yar’Adua – a strong, united, democratic and prosperous Nigeria. Atiku also faced formidable opponents in Babagana Kingibe, his erstwhile ally in the PF whom the group had installed Chairman of the SDP, and in Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, a wealthy businessman and newspapers publisher. Kingibe’s entry into the race confirmed the suspicion of some PF members that he had never been satisfied with just being Chairman of the party.
Abiola, who was not a registered member of any of the two parties, took the opportunity presented by the ban on prominent politicians to enter the presidential race. The PF was confident that Atiku would give both Kingibe and Abiola a good fight. But some quietly resented Atiku’s rapid rise within a group that had more mature, educated and experienced members than Atiku. M.S. Buhari, for instance, decided to pitch his tent with Kingibe.
The Yar’Adua group had many stars and Atiku was just one of them. But to say that he was the “chosen one” looked far-fetched to many members of the group. He was vying for the presidential ticket of the SDP at 47.
And so Atiku went back home to begin his incredible race to the top. He easily won his ward and local government council, and then headed for Yola for the contest to pick the SDP Presidential aspirant from Adamawa state. Less than a year earlier, he was going round the state asking people to support his governorship bid. Now, he was back in town persuading people to make him President of Nigeria.
After the loss of the governorship election, SDP leaders in Adamawa finally realised that they had to work together as a group to be able to capture power. So, they patched up their differences and opted for someone they believed would make a big impact at the national convention. Atiku had the money, the contacts and the Yar’Adua political organisation behind him to be able to clinch the ticket. He was the most influential person from Adamawa in the SDP and the obvious choice to represent the state at the national level.
Atiku had also done some fence-mending before he even thought about running for the Presidency. He reached out to former opponents and sought their support and friendship. Atiku’s philosophy has always been to seek to reduce the number of enemies or opponents he has at any given time by courting them and trying to win them over. He believes in making friends and not enemies. He believes in the politics of harmony.
It was this ability to cultivate the friendship and goodwill of former opponents that has endeared Atiku to many people in his state.
Atiku went after Jonathan Zwingina, Joel Madaki, Wilberforce Juta and Nath Yaduma. They were Bala Takaya’s staunch backers.
Securing their support meant that the Takaya’s threat had been reduced.
He made several attempts to win Takaya’s support but he remained an implacable rival.
The election was held in March 1993 and as expected Atiku defeated all other contestants to emerge as the SDP Presidential aspirant from Adamawa State. He then headed for Jos to vie with 27 other aspirant for the SDP Presidential ticket..
Moshood Abiola, 55 year old, and Babagana Kingibe, 48, had also won in their respective states…At the end of the 1st ballot, Abiola came 1st with 3,617 votes, Kingibe came a close second with 3,225 votes, while Atiku placed a respectable 3rd with 2,066 votes. Atiky was disappointed. They had a meeting with Yar Adua in attendance where MKO promised to make Atiku his running mate in return for the support of the Yar Adua Group, which Atiku belonged. Abiola had defeated Kingibe with fewer than 400 votes in the 1st ballot.. He desperately needed the support of the Yar Adua Group to get the SDP’s ticket. Not wanting Kingibe to emerge, Yar Adua Group decided that Atiku should step down for Abiola just before the 2nd ballot and Abiola was expected to name him his running mate soon after (something which never happened)… Atiku agreed to step down for Abiola. He was ready to subordinate his personal ambition for the sake of democracy and the survival of Nigeria. He was willing to make personal sacrifices to end military rule in the country. He could not afford to disrespect his political godfather Yar Adua and his colleagues in the PF. Of course, the promise of a VP ticket was a key factor.
Before the 2nd ballot began, each of the 3 leading contestants was given two minutes to address the delegates. When it was Atiku’s turn to do so, he announced he was stepping down for Abiola. “Distinguished national delegates, I very much appreciate your endorsement last night. I will remain ever grateful for that endorsement.
But in order to ensure a rancour-free election tonight, I beg and I plead with you to allow me to discontinue the race”, he told the delegates. Some of his supporters were disappointed. They broke down, crying openly. They felt he stood a chance of winning the election and that there was no need stepping down for anybody. Atiku calmed them down, saying he took the decision in the interest of the nation.
It was now a 2-way race between Abiola and Kingibe. At the end of the second ballot, Abiola had won with an even slimmer margin of 227 votes over Kingibe. He polled 2,683 votes to Kingibe’s 2,456.
Some of Atiku’s supporters from the North protested against his decision to step down by voting for Kingibe. They disregarded Atiku’s directive to them to vote for Abiola. Some of them were motivated purely by ethnic consideration. Rather than vote for Abiola, a Southerner, they chose to go with Kingibe, a Northerner. All the same, Atiku’s support gave Abiola the much-needed edge over Kingibe. The 11 SDP state governors backing Kingibe were determined to do everything within their powers to make sure he won. They even persuaded Kingibe to appeal directly to Yar’Adua, his former boss in the PF, for support. But Yar’Adua refused to renege on his pact with Abiola. The PF was the beautiful bride in Jos. If the group had thrown its formidable weight behind Kingibe, he would have won the primary election. Its support for Abiola had made the difference.
Abiola’s emergence as the SDP Presidential candidate surprised the ruling military administration. Babangida preferred Kingibe.
